New Delhi: The INDIA bloc is set to move a fresh impeachment motion against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in both Houses of Parliament, with the draft expected to contain at least 12 allegations, sources said.
The move comes a day after an Indian Express investigation reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections at least 14 times over the past 10 months over decisions and orders of the Election Commission, including those relating to voter registration, deletion and restoration of names and the revision of electoral rolls.
On Thursday, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi also demanded the CEC’s resignation, saying: “The first thing we are saying is Mr Gyanesh Kumar must resign immediately.” He also alleged that the Election Commission was responsible for what he called “vote chori, law chori and then institution chori”. These are political allegations and have not been established as findings by a court.
The fresh move for an impeachment motion follows two earlier attempts by the Opposition to initiate proceedings against Kumar.
On 12 March, Opposition MPs submitted notices in both Houses seeking his removal. The Lok Sabha notice was signed by 130 MPs, while the Rajya Sabha notice had 63 signatures. The notices were rejected by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman C. P. Radhakrishnan 6 April.
The Opposition returned with another notice 24 April, this time in the Rajya Sabha. It was signed by 73 MPs and contained nine charges of alleged “proved misbehaviour” against Kumar.
The notice was based on what Opposition parties described as fresh grounds arising after 15 March. The coordination and collection of signatures for the notice was handled by the Congress and Trinamool Congress.
The April exercise had backing from several Opposition parties, including the TMC, however the parliamentary arithmetic has since changed. Seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs who had backed the Opposition’s earlier effort subsequently joined the BJP, reducing the Opposition’s strength in the Upper House.
The TMC is another factor in the numbers; the party had MPs backing the earlier notice, but its current equation with the Congress and other INDIA bloc parties is different from the April exercise.
An impeachment motion against the CEC requires the support of at least 100 MPs in the Lok Sabha or 50 MPs in the Rajya Sabha for submission. The March notices had crossed those thresholds, with 130 Lok Sabha and 63 Rajya Sabha MPs signing them.
The Election Commission has maintained that differences and objections are part of institutional deliberation and the BJP has also defended the poll panel and rejected the Opposition’s allegations.
The notice is expected to be submitted in both Houses in the coming days.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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